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Captain Obvious: life should be more like a videogame photo

Jane McGonigal thinks that life should be more like a videogame. We're not going to argue.

Last week at the South by Southwest Interactive Conference in Austin, McGoingal channeled the powers of Captain Obvious to tell her audience that playing games is more rewarding and fun than life normally is. Her crack team at the Institute for the Future, a nonprofit organization that helps identify emerging trends, to busted that one open for us.

McGoingal may be on to something, though. She thinks that the reward system of videogames should be applied to everyday life. In games, players' characters are valued for their abilities and role, and are rewarded for their accomplishments. In life, you have to pat your own back. 

"For a lot of gamers, their experience of life is that it is not sufficiently deigned for them to be good at, in the way that games are," McGonigal said.

The Statesman article also talks about an emerging field called happiness research and how it relates to games and our lives. Research shows that people are are happier when they have four things going on: satisfying work to do, the experience of being good at something, time spent with people they like and the chance of being a part of something bigger. Sounds like a MMO to me.

This isn't the first time we've heard of applying gaming's reward systems to everyday life. But, I think that most gamers already think along these lines. Working is level grinding. Sleeping and eating restore HP. And, for me, gaming at the end of the day is my reward for working hard. That's kind of meta, isn't it.

Do you see yourself using gaming reward systems in your daily life?

[Thanks, JR] 






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Dale North is Destructoid's Editor-In-Chief, a founding editor, and specialist in Japanese gaming. An accomplished musician, Dale was reporting from Japan during the earthquakes of 2011. Luckily, he got the fuck out alive and is home in America now with his wife and beloved corgi, Einstein. Dale is also a co-founder of Destructoid's sister anime site Japanator. Likes Corgis, Sega Saturn, PSP, iPhone, Photographic tools. Meet the rest of the team



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21 comments | showing # 1 to 21
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Jetsetlemming's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/17/2008 10:05
Jetsetlemming
The only part of gaming I consistently wish was in real life was do-overs when you fuck up. Extra lives, loading quicksaves, restarting at the last checkpoint.
Neonie's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/17/2008 10:11
Neonie
I've actually discussed this with a number of my friends. I would love to be able to level-up in real life.
HarassmentPanda's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/17/2008 10:14
HarassmentPanda
I would love to have a real-life gamerscore posted on my forehead to show how awesome I am.

It's interesting to think of a "real life" rewards system that mimics video games in contrast to PS3's Home, which seems to attempt to mimic real life rewards in video games--trophies, bigger homes, etc.
tazarthayoot's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/17/2008 10:18
tazarthayoot
I wish in real life when I ate mushrooms I didn't wake up five days later in a cabin in the woods naked with a dead prostitute and the skinned furs of 25 different species of squirrels.
myaimistrue's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/17/2008 10:22
myaimistrue
Hey kids, don't you know? Life IS just like a videogame! Remember in Morrowind or Contact when performing a certain action would make you better at that? Guess what, fapping practice makes perfect!
glipe's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/17/2008 10:25
glipe
I dunno. Imagine people camping the good video games. Or griefers on street corners. Hell, what about achievement whores and power levellers? The world would become a scarier place with game rules attached.
Spartacus's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/17/2008 10:30
Spartacus
I read an article somewhere (I think it was in Wired) about how some companies were trying out weird reward programs that would make working more like a video game....I just lost my train of thought after reading Tazar's comment. What the hell?
king3vbo's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/17/2008 10:30
king3vbo
Extra lives would be awesome
brosef's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/17/2008 10:35
brosef
We could always just ask the "What If" machine.
bloodylip's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/17/2008 10:39
bloodylip
What if... that thing I just said?
digtastik's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/17/2008 10:51
digtastik
There's always a downside. Here's a reminder of what it could be likePan's World of Offline Gaming
MaxVest's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/17/2008 10:54
MaxVest
Research shows that people are are happier when they have four things going on: satisfying work to do, the experience of being good at something, time spent with people they like and the chance of being a part of something bigger.

Sounds like many of the reasons people spend time here.
infinity's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/17/2008 11:15
infinity
i would like a 1up every time i eat 100,000 calories worth of food.
Rockvillian's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/17/2008 11:19
Rockvillian
Never giving up in stuff like work, relationships, faith, etc is just like hitting the continue button, even if it throws you back to the beginning of the level. Perseverance in games can teach you a lot about your own life. Just gotta DO IT!

Great article, interesting thoughts Dale.
Tubatic's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/17/2008 11:30
Tubatic
I conceptualize me and my wife's goal of buying a house like grinding for an expensive item in a game. You just go to work for it, and eventually, you'll have the money, XP (reading up on house buying stuff) and quest items (pre-approval) to get your quest item.

lame.
AlucardX24's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/17/2008 12:53
AlucardX24
I'm in high school. Does that mean my life would be like Bully? I hated Bully.
WDot's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/17/2008 14:46
WDot
So, people like to do work that doesn't suck with people that they don't hate?

Yeah.

What does that have to do with video games though?
Velt's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/17/2008 15:21
Velt
yes, i wake up early, i study, go to med school, study some more, kill a patient or two on the process, eat between the first and the second kill, then straight home, maybe tenis, play a videogame, destructoid.com, study, bed.

So my life is full of little rewards.
Gorelord's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/17/2008 16:11
Gorelord
getting laid is the hardest video game ive ever played.
Eschatos's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/17/2008 16:14
Eschatos
I've never really thought of my normal life as a video game.
mistic's Avatar - Comment posted on 03/17/2008 17:32
mistic
Well ist definetly true in the form of appreciation... You get a lot more thanks for what you accomplish in a game then in real life...

I often reward myself with simple stuff like, clean the livingroom -> smoke a joint, do the dishes -> smoke a joint, cook a meal -> smoke a joint etc etc...
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